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Political System

As the name suggests, the Federation was a Federal system, with the member planets retaining a lot of power over their own affairs. At the centre of its political system is the Federation Council, headed by the Federation President.

The United Federation of Planets has exclusive power to tax interplanetary commerce and the vast majority of its revenue comes from the value-added tax placed on goods and services moving between planets.

History

Foundation

The Federation officially came to being in 2161 in San Francisco on Earth. Prior to its establishment, a temporary alliance between four Alpha and Beta Quadrant species: Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites was formed in 2154 in the search for a Romulan drone ship. After the crisis, these four species remained together, founding the precursor to the Federation, called the Coalition of Planets, in 2155 at the start of the Earth-Romulan War. Other species soon joined over the next several years. The ties between the members of the Coalition subsequently strengthened and became more structured, until, finally, in 2161, the Coalition became the Federation, an interstellar federal republic composed of planetary governments that agreed to exist semi-autonomously under a single centralized government based on the principles of "universal liberty, rights, and equality, and to share their knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation and space exploration."

24th Century

At the start of the 24th century, the Federation began an unprecedented period of peaceful exploration of the galaxy, free of major conflicts, as its main adversary of the previous century, the Klingon Empire, was now at peace with it. However, relations with the Romulans remained hostile, albeit at a low, 'cold war' level. There was also a series of local conflicts in the late 2340s, as the Federation came into contact with other militant races such as the Cardassians, the Talarians, the Tholians and the Tzenkethi.

The period of peaceful exploration came to an abrupt end. In 2365, the Federation encountered its single worst threat in the cybernetic pseudo-race known as the Borg. One of the most powerful and destructive forces in the entire galaxy, the Borg twice invaded the Federation (destroying a third of Starfleet during the Battle of Wolf 359 alone). They were unlike anything the Federation had ever encountered, and were only foiled by chance and resourcefulness. The Federation was thus schooled in the fact that, in the vast, unexplored reaches of the galaxy beyond what they knew, there were threats that they could not even imagine.

After the Borg, contact was made with the Dominion in 2370, the predominant ruling power over much of the Gamma Quadrant. After numerous skirmishes, misfortunes suffered by the Cardassian Union allowed for their eventual incorporation into the Dominion, and the subsequent Dominion invasion of the Alpha Quadrant. The Dominion/Cardassian forces were also joined by the reclusive but immensely powerful race known as the Breen. The ensuing war was the greatest crisis to be faced by the Federation, forming an alliance with the Klingons and Romulans to defeat the Dominion. Although the Alliance eventually emerged victorious, many of the Federation's important member worlds, such as Betazed, Coridan, and Benzar, had been temporarily occupied before the Dominion's offensive could be turned back. Thousands of Federation Starfleet vessels and millions of lives were lost, in what turned out be, as of the late 24th century, the bloodiest conflict in Federation history. The most devastating and demoralizing offensive occurred in 2375, when the Breen hit the Federation at its heart, with a surprise attack on Starfleet Headquarters on Earth.

Besides the war, the 25th century saw a radical increase of the Federation's technological abilities, with the introduction of experimental and prototypical technologies which were eventually perfected by the later half of the century.

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Views and Standards

The Federation upholds ideals of "universal liberty, rights, and equality, and to share their knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation and space exploration."

Regardless, there have been many events where liberties and rights have been frowned upon by the Federation as being "socially repressive" and "detrimental to the common good".